The Chief of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria confirmed on Friday that there was continuous fighting in the town of Traimseh in central Hama province on Thursday, in which activists said 200 people have been killed.

"From our presence in Hama province we can verify continuous fighting (on Thursday) in the area of Traimseh which involved mechanized units, indirect fire, as well as helicopters," Robert Mood told reporters in a briefing on Friday.

The UNSMIS chief said his mission "stands ready to go in (the area) and seek verification of facts if and when there is a credible ceasefire".

The Syrian government and opposition activists traded accusations over the massacre that hit Traimseh.

Syria's state TV said on Thursday that armed groups had committed a massacre in the town in order to frame Syrian troops.

The broadcast said armed groups opened fire indiscriminately on residents and caused people to seek help from Syrian troops.

The state media also said three soldiers were killed when fighting the armed groups in the restive town and the troops inflicted heavy losses upon the assailants.

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Meanwhile, the opposition activists' network Local Coordination Committees claimed that at least 200 people had been killed in what it also labeled as a massacre. The opposition activists accused government troops of being behind the carnage.

The Syrian government charged that before every forthcoming session of the UN Security Council, armed fighters would stage a massacre to leverage it against the ruling legitimacy of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In his briefing on Friday, Mood called on the Security Council to unite and come up with a plan to ease the suffering of the Syrian people.

"For the sake of the Syrian people, we need genuine and effective leadership from the Security Council," Mood said, adding that "the Security Council should unite on a plan that meets the aspiration of Syrian people and is accepted by the parties".

He also called on all parties of the Syrian conflict to iron out the differences and unite.

"Government and opposition must be willing to make concessions and sit down at the negotiation table. If this happens, the presence of the mission is credible and the mission can contribute to improve the situation on the ground and facilitate further dialogue," he said.

When asked about the future of his mission, which will end on July 20, Mood said the discussion regarding the future of the mission is entirely in the hands of the Security Council.

He said a report of the secretary-general recommended an approach in which the emphasis is put on local dialogues with a more political orientation of the mission. "We have given our input to that report and are behind the recommendation of that report, which means a continuation of the UNSMIS, but with a different orientation to make sure that we continue to be on ground for the Syrian people and with the Syrian people."

Mood said violence in the eastern Deir al-Zour province has declined and "we observe a significant reduction of violence and growing confidence in a possible step-by-step approach to stop the violence".

Western countries are trying to push for a new UN Security Council resolution on Syria that could entail military operations amid Russia's opposition.